Rancho Cañada del Corte de Madera facts for kids
Rancho Cañada del Corte de Madera was a large piece of land, about 3,566 acres (14.43 km2), given out as a Mexican land grant in 1833. This land is now part of Santa Clara County, California. The grant was given by Governor José Figueroa to two people: José Domingo Peralta and Máximo Martínez. The name "Cañada del Corte de Madera" means "the valley where lumber is cut" in Spanish. This rancho was located west of where I-280 is today, south of San Francisquito Creek near Searsville Lake. It covered most of the area known as Portola Valley.
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How the Rancho Was Granted
In 1833, the Mexican governor, José Figueroa, gave this large piece of land to Máximo Martínez and José Domingo Peralta. Back then, land grants were a way the Mexican government encouraged people to settle and use the land.
The Peralta Family Connection
José Domingo Peralta (born in 1795, died in 1865) came from a well-known family. His father, Luís María Peralta, had also received a big land grant called Rancho San Antonio. José Domingo Peralta was married to Paulina Antonio de Garcia Pacheco, whose father owned Rancho San Ramon. After his wife passed away in 1833, Domingo Peralta decided to sell his part of Rancho Cañada del Corte de Madera to Máximo Martínez in 1834. He then moved back to his family's land at Rancho San Antonio.
Máximo Martínez's Role
Máximo Martínez (born in 1792, died in 1863) had been a soldier in San Francisco for many years, from 1819 to 1827. He was also a councilman, called a regidor, in the Pueblo of San José in 1833. In 1834, Máximo Martínez and his wife, Damiana Padilla, moved onto the rancho. They lived there until Máximo's death in 1863. Later, in 1844, Governor Manuel Micheltorena gave Máximo Martínez another land grant, Rancho el Corte de Madera, which was next to his first rancho.
The Rancho Under United States Rule
After the Mexican-American War, California became part of the United States in 1848. The peace agreement, called the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, promised that the United States would respect the land grants given by the Mexican government.
Confirming Land Ownership
To make sure land ownership was clear, the U.S. government passed the Land Act of 1851. This law required people who owned Mexican land grants to file a claim to prove their ownership. Máximo Martínez filed his claim for Rancho Cañada del Corte de Madera with the Public Land Commission in 1852.
However, in 1857, lawyers for José Domingo Peralta, Cipriano Thurn and Horace Carpentier, claimed that Peralta still owned half of the rancho. They argued that Domingo Peralta's sale of his share to Martínez in 1834 was not valid. In the end, the land grant was officially given, or patented, to José Domingo Peralta in 1882.
Questions About the Land Grant
A local historian named Dorothy F. Regnery has suggested that this rancho might have been obtained in a way that wasn't completely fair. She wrote in her book that the land survey might have been incorrect, and that some claims related to it were rejected in court in 1865.
